For the first couple of days after Kagome was released from the hospital, she didn't do much, and other than filling her prescriptions, nether did Bankotsu. It wasn't that neither of them had nothing to do, they just didn't do them. For Kagome, she felt her time was better spent winding herself up about her pending meeting with the prosecutor, and Bankotsu spent his time trying his best to calm her back down when she pushed herself to the edge of a panic attack. Really, though, there wasn't a lot he could do other than keep reminding her she wasn't the one that did anything wrong, and all she had to do was tell him what she could remember.
But that was the problem.
She remembered it all.
She remembered filling her tray. She remembered being asked to drop off a bowl of clam chowder to a table that wasn't hers. She remembered the wild look in the whore's eyes right before she felt the worst pain she ever had in her life. She remembered the terror in Kouga's eyes when he tried to help her. She remembered the way he lost every ounce of color of his tanned skin when she couldn't breathe in the back of the ambulance. She remembered waking up, completely alone, with a tube down her throat. She remembered every stick of every needle. She remembered every moment of loneliness in isolation. She remembered the feeling of her throat closing off and the tightness of her chest that came with it that led to her spending five days hooked up to fucking life support because she got a massive staph infection. She remembered the twice devastation that came with being told she wasn't going home anymore. She lost her tonsils, her appendix, and had another scar that went from her belly button to her pelvis because she had developed an intestinal abscess from something else she 'picked up'.
She remembered everything, and the memories ran on repeat in her mind every time she looked in the mirror or narrowly avoided breaking her fucking toes on one piece of furniture or another. She wouldn't go up the stairs because of how close she came to falling down them when her foot slipped off the top landing at the heel her first morning home.
It was a pretty hard pill for both of them to swallow that night when Bankotsu asked if she was ready for bed when she nodded off on the couch, and she just ask him to bring her her pajamas because she intended to sleep downstairs in one of the spare rooms. He stayed downstairs with her, of course, but spent most of his night staring at the ceiling, trying to think of something to help her while she slept tucked awkwardly into his side, no longer used to sleeping next to someone.
The entire situation was exhausting for the both of them, but for different reasons, and it just got more so over those first days. Bankotsu didn't know what to do to help Kagome, and Kagome didn't know how to ask for what she needed; a fact that compounded everything else. She was trying so hard, and perhaps too hard, to act as though everything was fine and very little had changed, when in fact, it was the exact opposite.
As the days dragged on with painful slowness, nothing really got better, either.
As a matter of fact, they got worse.
The turning point came the morning when she had to go surrender her driver's licence and exchange it for a basic identification card. It might not have been quite so bad had she not overheard two of the workers talking behind the counter as the card was printing, discussing how pretty she used to be, but she did. Jakotsu had been the one to take her, and while she was fighting back tears and staring at the ground, he wasn't willing to let it go. He roughly cleared his throat before informing the two twits she could hear them. They couldn't apologize fast enough, but the damage had already been done.
Kagome didn't say a word for six days, and she didn't need to. Her actions said plenty.
Bankotsu got home from the meeting with his brother and Toga to finish out the suit that same afternoon, and she wasn't there, nor would she answer her phone. He could honestly say he was more terrified during the twenty minutes it took him to get ahold of someone to make sure she was alright than he was for the vast majority of the time she was in the hospital, baring only when she was put on life support.
But it wasn't just him she wasn't talking to. She didn't talk to her brother, mother, Sango, Kouga, Ayame, or any of her brother in-laws - save for one - and it was against every fiber of her being she did so.
After watching his baby brother drink himself into a belligerent stupor for days on end, Kyokotsu showed up at the shrine, refusing to leave until she at least listened to him. He didn't care if she didn't talk, him kind of hoping she didn't, but that went out the window when he pushed the wrong button.
He looked down at the pint sized woman that looked back up at him with a bloodshot eye and completely defeat radiating from her. Rubbing the back of his neck, he sighed. "Look, Kagome, I know I haven't exactly been the most supportive of this relationship, but..."
The noise that came out of her was rough, her face morphing into pure disgust as her scratchy, unused voice cut him off. "Don't. Don't you fucking dare. You don't have the right. Besides, you should be happy you're getting you way. The ugly little gold digging whore is finally leaving your baby brother alone. So why don't you go away, and leave her the hell alone."
The amount of attitude that came out of such a normally passive female brought Kyokotsu up short, but what also caught him off guard was for all the things he did call her, he never once called her ugly. She had already turned and walked away, and she didn't stop when he called for her to wait a damn minute, merely called over her shoulder to talk to Jakotsu. He stood, dumbfounded, until he actually jumped when she slammed a door somewhere upstairs.
Before he was completely out of the house, he whipped back around at the sound of shattering glass, but was stopped by a glaring Sota from finding out what that was. "Leave, now, or I will hurt you." When Kyokotsu opened his mouth, Sota actually growled. "I've been in Jiu-Jitsu since I was six. I know seventeen different ways to kill you without leaving a mark. The grounds are public. This house is not. Get. Out."
Swallowing back the biting remark that would do no one any good, Kyokotsu turned and left as told, but pulled his phone out as he heard the latching of the lock behind him. As he dialed Jakotsu's number, he held onto one thing, and one thing only. Kagome left a bread crumb, and if she was willing to do that, then maybe all wasn't lost.
When Jakotsu took the call from Kyokotsu, he had been speaking with Suikotsu, trying to get some kind of perspective into the mind of a traumatized assault victim in hopes it would give him some idea as to how to help Kagome. It wasn't even for Bankotsu he was doing it, either, because unlike the other five of them, Jakotsu loved everything about that girl, and had a better relationship with her than he did with half of his brothers. He chose her to be a large part of his life, and he was willing to do damn near anything to get her back.
While he was on the phone, Suikotsu watched as his younger brother changed before his eyes. All seven of the Akasaki siblings had a temper, but of all of them, Jakotsu was the only one that hardly ever lost his. As an openly gay man, and for as long as he's been open about his sexuality, he learned at a very young age he needed to let a lot of shit go, or he would spend his entire life very, very angry. However, the longer the phone call continued, the more angry Jakotsu clearly became, and by the time he ended the call, the man looked absolutely murderous.
Clicking his phone closed, Jakotsu calmly slipped it into his pocket. "I have to go. I'll call you later." Pausing and looking back when Suikotsu asked what was up, his voice continued to belie the emotions in his eyes. "I'm going to go pick up Kagome, make a pit stop to have two little cunts fired, and then I'm going to take her home where she belongs, whether she likes it or not."
Once again stopping Jakotsu from walking away, Suikotsu started with the more shocking part of that statement. "You don't use that word."
Face still level, Jakotsu hummed. "And yet."
Licking his lips, and not really knowing if he wanted the answer, Suikotsu asked anyway. "What's your plan, exactly?"
Jakotsu just shook his head. "I have no idea what Kyokotsu did to piss off Kagome enough to actually talk to him, but I do know what happened. I was there when it did. So, I'm going to deal with that before I take her home and handle that as well."
Crossing his arms, Suikotsu snorted. "Your confidence is astounding, Jakotsu."
Smirking with a spark in the back of his eyes, Jakotsu hummed again. "As it stands, my confidence may well be the only thing that saves their marriage. Both of them have had their lives turned upside down by Bankotsu's ex-girlfriend, and they are not talking. Now, I can appreciate the fact Bankotsu doesn't want to upset her, and I can also appreciate that Kagome might not even know what it is she wants to say, but this silence is not doing them any favors. If things continue as they are, the only outcome is divorce, and if there is a way to circumvent that, I believe we owe it to them to try."
Suikotsu cocked a brow. "Weren't you the one that threatened to beat their asses if you had to step into their marriage again?"
At the clearly jestful question, Jakotsu wasn't even slightly amused. "No; I threatened to use one of them to beat the other if I had to settle their stupid, superficial marital crap again. This isn't stupid, superficial marital crap that is only an issue due to pride. This is a major, life altering event that doubles as their defining moment as a couple, and will do one of only two things. It will either permanently cement the relationship, or as it's currently going, completely tear them apart."
Deciding the conversation was over, regardless if Suikotsu agreed, Jakotsu turned sideways to leave, and looked his brother in the eyes. "Get ahold of whoever is with Bankotsu and force them to make him to stop drinking. Kagome and I will be there in two hours."
*X*
By the time Jakotsu arrived at the shrine, he had calmed down substantially, though he was still geared up for the fight he knew he was about to get in with who had to be the most stubborn onna on the planet. He loved the girl dearly, but good damn could that girl dig her heels in.
He had also decided he wasn't going to be the one to deal with the two airheads at the governmental office. Bankotsu had always been extremely protective of Kagome, even before she became his wife, and to Jakotsu's knowledge, he didn't know what happened when she surrendered her licence. He would have told him, but until a half hour ago, he didn't know that was the catalyst for Kagome's leaving. Jakotsu didn't know exactly what Bankotsu would do with the information, but what he needed to do was prove to Kagome she still meant as much to him as she always did.
Jakotsu pulled out his phone to text Bankotsu to tell him to answer when he calls, but say nothing, as he walked across the shrine grounds. The only way Jakotsu could think of to keep his younger brother's temper in check when he and Kagome arrived was for him to hear from her why she vanished, and then not just have time to digest it before he saw her, but to listen to Ginkotsu's sober voice of reason. To the shock of the rest of Akasaki siblings, Bankotsu wasn't actually angry over the situation. He was hurt, of course, but mostly, he was confused, and once alcohol is added to mix, it's amazing how close something that isn't anger resembles anger.
Returning his phone to his pocket and fixing his jacket after he knocked on the door, Jakotsu waited with his hands clasped behind his back, and when Sota opened it, Kagome's brother huffed hard. "God, you Akasakis are like cockroaches. I already told your brother..."
Not in the mood, Jakotsu cut him off, a blank and level look on his face. "I'm aware of what you told my brother. Now, let me tell you something. I have six brothers that are all bigger than I am. I came out as gay when I was eleven, when a half dressed boy in gym class name Oscar Chen gave me a raging fucking boner. From that point on, I was known as the predatory faggot on the playground. You don't scare me, so either go get Kagome, or get the hell out of my way."
Hand shooting out, his palm flat on the wall to block the path of the man that went to barge past him, Sota narrowed his eyes. "That's a sad story, but I really don't care. Besides, she's not even here. She left fifteen minutes after your brother did. Don't know where she went. Don't know when she's coming back. So sorry."
Unsure whether he was being lied to or not, Jakotsu's head tilted to the side, challenge entering his dark eyes. "Then I'll wait."
Sota, however, just shrugged. "Suit yourself." Then, with a flick of his wrist, he slammed the door in Jakotsu's face.
Jerking back before he was hit in the nose with the door, Jakotsu scoffed. "Rude."
Backing off the porch, Jakotsu's eyes flicked up to the second floor to the open window he knew was Kagome's room. It was dark, so it lend credence to the claim she wasn't home, but still not sure whether her brother was telling the truth or not, Jakotsu pulled his phone out and dialed Kagome's cell. Setting it to his ear on the off chance she actually answered it, he waited to see if he could hear its ringtone, but when all he heard was the birds in the trees while there was a ringing in his ear, he was left to believe Sota told the truth about her not being there, though there was no part of him that believed he didn't know where she was.
Looking back at the door, he hung up on Kagome's voicemail, curious what it was that turned Sota so fucking frosty toward him. He could completely understand why he didn't like Kyokotsu. He earned every ounce of detestment held for him, but Jakotsu couldn't think of a damn thing he had done to lead to such a massive change in what was a very good relationship with Kagome's little brother. The only thing he could come up with was Sota never actually cared for him, and with the situation being what it was, he no longer had to pretend otherwise. If that was the case, should Kagome go back to her husband, he was going to have one hell of a time with the extended family during the holidays.
Then again, he supposed sides were always chosen, regardless of the actual necessity of choosing sides.
As he was making his way back to the steps that led to the street, with every intention of doing what he said he was and waiting for her there, he heard his phone chirp with an incoming text. Pulling it out of his pocket, he cocked a brow at the fact it was from Kouga's number, and actually choked at the image that was waiting for him when he opened the message. The picture of Kagome sitting in a chair, her head propped up by the fingertips of a bloody, mangled hand against her temple with the caption of 'little busy' was basically the last thing he ever expected to see. She had her eyes closed, so he was left to then guess Kouga was doing this without her knowledge.
He didn't completely expect an answer when he texted back, asking what happened, but when there was a response, he found himself wishing Kouga would have gone back to ignoring him.
'She put her fist through a mirror'
Swiping back to the image of Kagome in an exam chair, he winced as he once again looked at her hand. She had it held vertically on the arm of the chair she was sitting in, her fingers and knuckles shredded, a large gash on the back of it, and blood sliding down her forearm. He didn't think there was actually any pressure against her fingers, but the position was more one of comfort than anything else. There were two other things in the picture he noticed that gave him some level of hope.
She was still wearing her wedding rings, and the necklace Bankotsu gave her when they were dating still hung around her neck.
Another message came through as he was looking at the image, and when he looked at it, he let out a hard grunt.
"She's still not talking, not even to tell me what the fuck led to this.'
Oh, Jakotsu had a pretty decent idea.
There were three things he could do right now. The first was wait at the shrine as intended for her to come back. The second was find out where she was and go to her. The third was he tell Kouga to take her home, and meet them there.
After a long moment of debate, he chose the second option. It was 'neutral ground' where she couldn't hide, and where she wouldn't have the claim of being ganged up on. Asking for the information, he waited to see if Kouga would give it to him. Jakotsu knew he either would or he wouldn't, and he could perfectly understand why he wouldn't. Should this come down to the dissolving of her marriage, she would need her best friend, and the last thing she needed was to lose that as well should she see him doing that as a betrayal.
It was a much longer wait for the next message, but when it came through, Jakotsu bounded down the steps to go to his car. He wasn't going to make it before she was discharged, but Kouga told him to meet them at his apartment.
Slipping his phone back into the holder on his belt, Kouga went back to twirling Kagome's long, white cane through his fingers as he watched her get her hand seen to. He didn't say anything, just watched her wince and cringe as the emergency room doctor stitched her hand back together to the best of his ability. She really did a number on it, and he really wanted to know why.
She hadn't even called to ask for a ride. Just sent him a picture and a text telling him she needed a doctor. He found it odd he was the one she told when he found out Sota was there when she did it, but after not hearing a word from her in nearly a week, he was out the door and at the shrine in record time since he didn't know she wasn't alone.
He also had no idea what bug crawled up Sota's ass, but he told Kagome's brother in no uncertain terms that if he ever spoke to him like he did again, Sota would be the one needing a fucking doctor.
After he shoved the little bastard out of his way and went up to Kagome's room, he opened the door to see her sitting on the edge of her bed, blood dripping from her hand onto the carpet, and the vanity mirror shattered, the glass all over the floor. Not surprisingly, the first thing out of Kouga's mouth was a 'what the fuck', but also not surprisingly to him, she didn't answer. She hadn't said two words to anyone that he knew of, and this being the first time he had seen her since she was released from the hospital, he was pretty fucking worried about where her head was at.
The picture he sent Jakotsu wasn't taken for Jakotsu, it was just the one he had since when Jakotsu called, the doctor was already with her. He took it to send to her husband, but when it came to sending it, he ended up deciding not to. It wasn't to hide it or anything. It was so Bankotsu didn't show up, because he also didn't know where his head was at. Kouga had known Kagome long enough to know how she ticked, but he couldn't say the same for the man she married. He might have a decent relationship with the man now, but his loyalty would always be to Kagome, and until she said she was ready, he wouldn't force her to see Bankotsu.
But... Jakotsu wasn't Bankotsu.
He wasn't stupid; he knew she was going to be pissed when he didn't take her back to the shrine once she was done being stitched back together, but since he was the one driving, and he didn't want to see her ruin what was actually a very good marriage until recently, he figured she would eventually get over it. Besides, even if she didn't say a word to her brother in-law, he did know her well enough to know she would actually listen to what he had to say.
He might had come to a different conclusion had he known she put her fist through that mirror because she had listened to what a brother in-law had to say, but since he didn't know about Kyokotsu, he wasn't prepared for the glare that was sent his direction when Kagome saw Jakotsu sitting on the couch in Kouga's apartment next to Ayame with Maru in his lap. However, unprepared for it not, that didn't stop him from leveling her with a look of his own irritation. "This could have been avoided if you would've just told me what the fuck was going on with you."
Kagome, however, said nothing; just whacked Kouga in the ankle with the cane she had been given to help her navigate what she couldn't see around her.
There was a loud grunt upon impact, and as Kouga was rubbing where he got hit with one hand, he actually snapped at her as his look darkened, snatching the damn cane from her grasp with the other. "Way un-fucking-called for." Throwing the object across the room, Kouga put his foot down, both literally and figuratively, as Ayame picked Maru up and took him out of the room so he wasn't privy to his father's loss of temper. "I don't know what the hell is going on with you, but regardless of what you think, you don't get to be a bitch, and you certainly don't get to hit me for no fucking reason in my house, in front of my son."
Holding her bandaged hand against her chest with her other arm, Kagome said the first thing she had to him since she got out of the hospital. "Then take me home."
Kouga, crossing his arms, cocked a brow. "Gladly. I'm sure your husband would really like to see you." Pointing at her bandaged hand, "pretty sure he's gonna have a question or two for you, though."
At the direct statement, a level of desperation entered Kagome's voice. "You know that's not what I meant."
Kouga, though, didn't miss a beat. "But that's home, Kagome. You don't live at the shrine anymore; that's just where you're hiding."
Though she bulked, Kagome averted her eyes, pressing her lips together as she bit the inside of her bottom one. After a moment, she shook her head. "I'm not... hiding."
Once again, there was clear challenge in Kouga's voice, but the tone was slightly softer. "Then what do you call it?"
Keeping her eyes cast off to the side for several seconds, Kagome chewed on her lip as she tried to figure out an acceptable answer to that that wasn't actually a lie, but since that was basically exactly what she was doing, she sighed as she finally looked at Jakotsu. "Do you wanna know what I've been doing since that morning at the government office? I've been... I've been trying to remember how... life... used to be. I've been..." swallowing hard, she clicked her tongue, "trying to remember what it was like to not... hurt." Using her undamaged hand to point at the blotchy skin that surrounded the colorless skin on her face, Kagome gave a sardonic smile as she sniffled slightly. "It hurts... all the time. Doctor Hakushin said that it uh... it probably always will, too. The nerves were damaged, beyond repair, but they're still alive. Painkillers don't help. Alcohol might, but I'm not allowed to have that, because it might have an adverse reaction to the antidepressants I'm on; which, don't really help all that much either, to be honest." Gulping back the lump that formed in her throat, Kagome shook her head. "I..." looking at Jakotsu again, "...can't."
While Kagome was talking, Kouga grabbed her a chair from the dining room table, gently led her by the elbow, sat her down across the coffee table from Jakotsu, and left them to talk. Kagome hadn't realized he left the room until she looked for him, and when she noticed he wasn't there, she looked back at Jakotsu, just waiting for the same ass reaming she had gotten from Kyokotsu before she snapped back at him.
Jakotsu, however, merely looked at her, taking in what she was saying, and actually trying to understand her. He could have whatever motives he wanted, but in the end, if there was nothing to be done, there was nothing to be done. When she ended the way she did, stopping before she actually said what it was she couldn't do, he decided to start there. He kept all accusation out of his voice, and all it showed was pure curiosity. "You can't what?"
Though her voice was soft, it still carried the tone that said he should have known the answer. "Remember. Everything is overshadowed and just... it doesn't exist anymore. I used to be this..." Stopping for a moment, she reached down and picked up her purse from the floor next to her, setting in her lap and digging around as she continued speaking. "Person that loved to meet people, talk to them, get to know them. I'm not anymore. I used to be this..." Finding what she was looking for, she pulled out the bottle of eye drops, unscrewing the cap and, tilting her head back, tried to put in the drops as she kept talking. "...outgoing person that enjoyed being challenged and stepping out of my comfort zone and trying new things. I'm not anymore." Blinking her eyes, she dropped her arms and sighed. "I used to be his..."
When she lost eye contact and trailed off with that last statement, Jakotsu knew he was almost there, that all he had to do was get her to finish that thought and the puzzle would be solved and a solution could be figured out. However, he also heard the hitch in her voice and saw the glistening shine over her eye as she said it before she looked away, telling him more than anything else just how delicately he needed to tread. If he handled this wrong, it could actually become his fault she never went home, and dealing with his younger brother at that point would become impossible.
Instead of pushing right then, Jakotsu stood, making his way around the coffee table. Holding his hand out when he was standing in front of her, he gave Kagome a small smile. "Here, My Darling, let me help you." When she flicked her eyes to him, he lowered his voice in hopes of not being overheard to save her the embarrassment. "You missed."
Closing her eyes, Kagome swallowed hard as she all but slammed her eye drop bottle in Jakotsu's hand. "Of course, I did."
Following the directions Kagome gave him, and telling her to blink after each of the two eye drops, Jakotsu crouched as he screwed back on the cap, replacing the bottle in her purse and looking up at her after he did so. He took a deep breath to speak, but stopping himself, curling his tongue behind his teeth to give himself a longer moment to sit with was standing out in his mind, hoping beyond all literal measure there was some part of the girl he knew Kagome to be in there somewhere. He wasn't exactly a 'knight in shining armor' kind of guy, but then again, Kagome wasn't exactly a 'damsel in distress' either.
What she was waiting for, Kagome didn't know, but as the silence stretched on, she got so overly uncomfortable, she blurted out the last thing Jakotsu ever thought she would, and in a voice so quiet it could have been blown away if there was an open window.
"I was his Pretty Girl."
The statement about being able to be knocked over by a feather perfectly described what happened when those words were allowed to settle in Jakotsu's mind. He had been taken off guard before, and numerous times by this particular young lady, but never so much as to be rendered completely speechless. Breath stolen from him, Jakotsu gaped at the girl for a long moment, trying to get his voice to pass his lips, but he didn't speak any louder than she did when he finally succeeded in speaking. "Oh... Precious... I..."
He wasn't just going to ensure those two little bitches were fired, he was going make sure so much worse happened.
Kagome, however, had already looked away, not able to actually look someone in the eye anymore. Licking her lips, she sniffled as she cleared her throat. "I can't... face him. I can't... I can't see the hurt and sadness I'm causing him anymore." Looking back at Jakotsu, she swallowed hard. "When you marry someone after only twenty-seven days, you really love that person, and he deserves that person. He deserves the girl he married, and I'm not her anymore, and I don't think I can ever be that girl again. Just... just tell him I'm sorry."
Looking at the outstretched hand, knowing what laid inside, Jakotsu scratched the side of his nose before he stood up, looking down at her and crossing his arms. There was absolutely no way he was going to do that, and he made it perfectly clear. "No." When she flicked her eye up to him, he leveled her with a emotionless look. "I'm not your messenger, so if that's what you're going to do, you're going to do it yourself. Before you do, however, listen to me. You, My Precious Little Baby, are still acting like an idiot."
At this point, her rearing back from the statement worked well in his favor, because she kept her mouth shut. Since Plan A didn't work, it was on to Plan B, and he took a page from Kouga's playbook, deciding it was time for 'nice' to go out the window.
While not wholly looking down his nose at the girl, he certainly wasn't overly happy with her at the moment either, and his voice showed it more than his words. "Kagome, you are still every bit the person you were at the start of that fateful shift at the restaurant. I'm not insinuating nothing has changed, because a great deal has, but at your core, you are still the same the person you always where. Do you have a different perspective on certain aspects of life? I positive you do, but tell me, and be honest, do you still love Bankotsu?"
There was no hesitation on Kagome's part when she nodded with a whimpered 'yes', and Jakotsu pounced on it. "Then why in Kami's name are you going to give that horrible woman exactly what she wants?"
Once again looking away from his dark, piercing eyes, Kagome pressed her lips together. It took her several moments, but she finally cut her eyes back to Jakotsu and licked her lips. "You don't understand."
Taking a seat on the coffee table, Jakotsu didn't dispute that. "You're right, I don't; and it's very likely I never will." Balling his fists, he then set them on Kagome's needs and locked their eyes. "But, please, My Darling, before you make the biggest mistake of your life, think it through. That woman has already stolen so much from you; are you truly willingly give up the only thing left she hasn't taken? You have been married for five months, Kagome, three of which you spent in the hospital because of her. You nearly died as a result of her actions, Precious, and..."
At that point, Kagome couldn't take anymore, and snapped. "Exactly!" Narrowing her eyes as best she could, her voice rose in light of Jakotsu's shocked silence. "You don't understand, and I doubt you're even trying to. Look, I fully get the fact you're trying to save your brother from having his heart broken, and I am truly, truly sorry about that, but could you, for just a moment, try to see this from my perspective." Waiting for a moment to see if he was going to say anything, Kagome then swallowed hard and laid it all out for him.
"That psychotic twat, by your own admittance, nearly killed me. I almost died, Jakotsu, because of her, and I am fucking terrified of what will happen to me if she gets off and I'm still with him. Or, worse yet, if she doesn't, because they still haven't found her fucking brother. While there is a large amount of truth to it, it is, so much easier to say it's because Bankotsu doesn't deserve to have some disfigured creature as his wife for the rest of his life than it is to admit I am terrified. I can't sleep anymore because every little noise wakes me up. Is it Onigumo coming to get rid of the complainant so his sister gets off scot free, or is it a fucking squirrel in the tree outside my window? As far as I'm concerned, either one is just as likely as the other."
With a pause and a hard sniffle, she then roughly wiped the tears from her cheek as she shook her head. "In a matter of weeks, I have to look that woman in the eye and admit to everything about my life she destroyed. I have to be in the same room with the person that almost killed me. Call me a selfish bitch or whatever you want, I don't care, but I'm allowed to be scared. I'm allowed to be terrified. I am also, most certainly, allowed to do whatever I can to make some attempt at trying to feel safe again, even if you don't agree with how I decide to do it. Is it fair? Probably not, but you tell me, Jakotsu, what part of this is fucking fair?"
While she was talking, Jakotsu repositioned himself so his elbows were on his knees, his fingers laced together in front of his lips, and his chin settled on his thumbs. He had considered a great many thing being the reason behind her leaving, but this was one he hadn't come up with. Her original reason was what he had assumed to be the problem, and had it been, it would have been something of an easy fix if Bankotsu was willing to put in the effort, which Jakotsu was positive he was. Finding out, comparatively, it sounded like a relatively minor reason to what the real one was left Jakotsu nearly reeling. Kagome had legitimate concerns about her safety, and he knew there wasn't an easy way to settle those fears.
After several moments of deafening silence between them, Jakotsu lowered his hands to between his knees and tilted his head to the side. His voice was soft and for him, pretty subdued. "Have you, mmm... have you considered speaking with Ginkotsu about legal protections?"
To the question, Kagome cleared her throat and shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Not... Ginkotsu, no. But I did talk to a couple different people in law enforcement before what happened at the governmental office and, um... they told me it wasn't worth pursuing."
Both brows slid up Jakotsu's forehead, his eyes widening and his lips parted as he jaw went lax. Staring at his sister in-law for longer than what would be considered polite, he finally made a strangled sounding noise in the back of his throat. "I'm... sorry, they what?" While he understood Bankotsu's decision not to renew his restraining order against Kagura due to the muddied waters of contractual obligations, there was no reason he could think of to tell an assault victim legal protection wasn't worth pursuing.
Kagome, though, just licked her lips and, with a shallow nod of her head, clicked her tongue. "They, um... they told me since the one that actually committed the assault was currently behind bars and they don't know where Onigumo is, it would just be a waste of a lot of people's time because, in the end, uh... a restraining order is just a piece of paper anyway." Looking back at Jakotsu, she shrugged. "So Kouga was right. I am hiding. I'm hiding because I don't know what else to do. Bankotsu has a life. I can't expect him to always be home, but there is always someone at the shrine, so I'm never completely alone. And, as long as I'm there, nothing will happen to him, either."
Beginning to understand why Sota had become such a dick, Jakotsu was finding it much harder to fault him for it. There were so many layers to this fucked up situation, and the longer the conversation continued, the worse it seemed to get. However, to hear Kagome had all but been abandoned and more or less told to fend for herself, he found himself getting very, very angry. The discovery that all of this was an attempt on her part to protect not just herself, but everyone she cared about due to that abandonment nearly left him seeing red.
However, it also gave him a starting point. It would be a massively long road, but so long as he had a place to begin, the coming rocks and hard places could be traversed.
So, with that in mind, he decided to do what he originally planned, and be on her side, since no one else seemed to be.
Once again placing his laced fingers on Kagome's knee, he let out a sigh as he looked at her through his lashes. "Alright, Precious, here's my proposal. Let me take you home, and to be clear I don't mean Sunset, I mean home. If you don't want to stay, I won't allow anyone to make you, and will personally take you back to the shrine myself. But, Ginkotsu is there, right now. Talk to him, tell him what was said to you, and let him take that nonsensical bullshit from there. I can almost guarantee with a single phone call, he can have whatever you want in place within an hour. While he's doing that, I will help you talk to Bankotsu."
Gulping down the lump in her throat, Kagome let out a shuttered breath as the tears that gathered in her eyes came out in her voice. "This being the second time I've done this now, so how do I even face him again?"
It was with a smile Jakotsu answered. "By holding your high with the knowledge you haven't don't anything wrong; either this time or before. Everyone does things when they're scared they wouldn't normally do. The last time you did something like this, you had known each other for all of three days and had just been threatened by someone who stands at seven fucking feet tall. This time, you have an understandable fear for your life, and you're trying to protect Bankotsu while trying to also protect yourself. You have absolutely no fault here, Kagome, but, if nothing else, if your mind is truly made up and nothing will change it, he does deserve for you to be the one to tell him so. Neither I nor anyone else will end your marriage for you, Precious; you will do it yourself."
Moving to the edge of the coffee table and changing his position so Kagome's knees were between his, he then took her unbandaged hand in both of his, looked her in the eyes, and lowered his voice. "But, if this really is all just because you're scared, Honey, there are hundreds of other options that don't involve taking just a drastic measure. You once complained about him skipping steps. Well, Precious, you're doing the same thing, and as a result, are about to make a mistake you cannot unmake. That is, of course, your choice, but as I said, it will be you that makes it."
On the other side of Jakotsu's phone that sat innocently face down on the coffee table, Bankotsu ended the call and returned to his position with his chin propped on his forearms that were folded on the counter of the island in his kitchen. He remained silent for a long moment before he flicked his eyes to Ginkotsu. His dull blue eyes showed every ounce of alcohol he had consumed, and his voice slurred slightly. "Do you think she'll come?"
Drumming his fingers on the polished stone of the counter, Ginkotsu pursed his lips as he considered the question. He didn't want to lie, but he also didn't want dash whatever hope his brother had. Instead, he was as truthful as he felt he could be. "I don't know, Bank, but I think that if anyone has the ability to make that happen, it's Jakotsu. I think... she has a lot going through her mind right now, and I doubt what Jakotsu got out of her so far is all of it. I think... you will need to be very patient, extremely understanding, and... sober. So, why don't you use this time to go get cleaned up and I'll make you some coffee."
Watching one brow slide up Bankotsu's forehead, Ginkotsu lost the tact and went with blunt. "You smell, Bankotsu, like a dirty distillery. Seriously, Man, you stink. Like... really bad. I would rather be in an overused port-a-potty than get any closer to you than I am right now because I'm positive it would smell better. Please, for the Gods, go shower... with bleach."
The look on Bankotsu's face was almost uncomprehending, and just when Ginkotsu thought Bankotsu was about to not do as he was told, Bankotsu sat up, smacked his hands on the edge of the counter, said 'okay', and pushed his stool back so he could get up.
Watching his little brother head for his room, Ginkotsu waited until Bankotsu shut his bedroom door before he went about making a pot of coffee and putting forth a very valiant attempt to air out the house Bankotsu had funked up over the last near week with a lack of personal hygiene, a massive amount of alcohol, and several packs of cigarettes.